Hanoi (VNA) – The Lang Son branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) is maintaining stable operations and creating favourable conditions for people to access preferential loan capital following the rearrangement of administrative boundaries.
Nguyen Thi Phuong, Director of the VBSP Lang Son provincial branch, stated that following the administrative boundary rearrangement and the "immediate and continuous" directive from the VBSP General Director, the VBSP Lang Son branch has retained all ten District Transaction Offices in the former districts and continues to maintain its operational network as before. "Currently, we have developed solutions to ensure that transaction activities are not interrupted or disrupted, and all operations remain normal to serve the people in the best possible way," she said.
Phuong added that, first and foremost, the Lang Son provincial branch continues to maintain stability by keeping the existing 194 Commune Transaction Points (CTPs). The network of transaction points and the transaction schedule remain unchanged from before the administrative unit reorganization.
“Accordingly, we prioritise arranging transaction locations at the headquarters of the People's Committee of the former commune, ward, or township. If placement at the former People's Committee is not possible, the location is arranged at a cultural house, ensuring maximum convenience for the public when conducting transactions, and avoiding the need for them to travel long distances or alter their existing financial habits," she noted.
The VBSP has the distinctive operation model of focusing on serving the poor and other policy beneficiaries, with a wide transaction network across the entire province's communes, creating favorable conditions for the public to access preferential loan capital.
Starting July 1, implementing the plan for administrative unit reorganization and establishing the two-tier local government model, Lang Son province now has 65 commune-level administrative units.
To ensure the policy credit capital flow is not interrupted, the VBSP Lang Son branch advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue a directive to relevant agencies and units concerning certain aspects of policy credit activities after the implementation of the two-tier local government.
Speaking about the merger implementation, Ly The Cong, Director of the VBSP Van Lang District Transaction Office, said that the unit carried out loan disbursements in 5 communes, reporting an outstanding loan balance of VND 393 billion for 5,016 borrowing households. To safeguard the rights and convenience of the public in accessing preferential credit policies, the unit continues to maintain all 17/17 commune-level transaction points as before. Concurrently, the unit also sustains the operation of 176 Savings and Credit Groups (SCGs). Furthermore, the bank automatically updates borrowers' address information according to the new commune boundaries, eliminating the need for people to re-declare or perform any supplementary procedures.
Along with other units in the branch, all VBSP Transaction Offices are currently taking the initiative to develop operational plans appropriate to their local situation, ensuring that activities such as disbursement, debt collection, and interest collection proceed smoothly.
In addition, to keep the public well-informed, the Director of the VBSP Lang Son branch directed the Transaction Offices to immediately and closely coordinate with the Commune People's Committees and the entrusted mass organizations to announce the transaction locations, fixed transaction schedules, transaction times, and the list of hamlets served by each transaction point. This ensures that the management boards of the SCGs and the customers are fully aware before coming to transact.
In particular, the Transaction Offices collaborate with the new Commune People's Committees to create favorable conditions for customers in certifying loan application dossiers and authorization procedures, ensuring no administrative procedural complications arise.
Trieu Duc Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Khanh Khe commune, Lang Son province, informed that Khanh Khe commune was consolidated based on the former communes of Xuan Long and Binh Trung (Cao Loc district) and the former Khanh Khe commune (Van Quan district). Currently, the commune's total outstanding loan balance across various lending programs is nearly VND 90 billion, serving over 1,000 borrowing households.
"To help the public access the preferential loan capital, we facilitate the arrangement of fixed transaction schedules for the Van Quan Transaction Office at the headquarters of the 'former' Binh Trung and Xuan Long communes, and Khanh Khe commune. At the transaction points, we provide working space and publicly post signboards to disseminate information about policy credit. Additionally, the Commune People's Committee closely coordinates with the Commune Police to implement a security plan at the VBSP transaction point to ensure the safety of personnel and assets during transaction hours," Dung stated.
Maintaining the transaction network as it was before the merger has helped the poor and other policy beneficiaries in the province avoid long travel distances, providing stability and confidence in accessing loan capital. As of now, the total outstanding loan balance across all lending programs of the VBSP Lang Son provincial branch is over VND 5.4 trillion, serving more than 90,400 borrowing households, with the average outstanding loan balance after the merger reaching VND 84 billion per commune.
Dinh Thi Hieu from Hamlet 6, Khang Chien commune, shared: "My family borrowed capital from the VBSP Trang Dinh in 2022 to invest in forest planting and care. Since July 1, Khang Chien commune merged with the “former” Trung Thanh and Tan Minh communes, and the Commune People's Committee headquarters is now located in the “former” Trung Thanh commune, over 20km from my house. Since the commune merger, the Trang Dinh Transaction Office has continued to conduct transactions at the former commune transaction point, which makes me feel very secure and convenient because I don't have to travel far."
The administrative unit merger is an essential process in streamlining the apparatus and enhancing the effectiveness of State management. The timely and effective solutions implemented by the VBSP Lang Son provincial branch in particular, and the VBSP system in general, will ensure that policy credit activities are maintained continuously and stably.
In the coming time, the VBSP Lang Son provincial branch will organize training for the Chairpersons of the Commune People's Committees and the staff of the entrusted socio-political organizations on policy credit activities. This is to ensure that local personnel firmly grasp the professional operations and policy credit procedures. Consequently, this will help people access policy capital in the most convenient way to develop their economy, improve their livelihoods, legitimately get rich, contribute to the country's socio-economic development, sustain poverty reduction, and build new rural areas, ensuring a steady step into the new era.
Starting July 1, the two-tier local government model (comprising provincial and commune levels) officially went into operation. To maintain stable and continuous policy credit activities and promote their effectiveness in the new phase, and adhering to the service motto: "Understanding the people's aspirations, serving with dedication", the VBSP system nationwide continues to maintain its operational methods, retain the former commune transaction points and the Savings and Credit Groups, without affecting the public's access to capital.
